iTunes for Mac and Windows earbud headphones & USB cable. iPod - The iPod is known around the world as a premier digital audio player. Then they added a color screen and photo support. Now they complete the trilogy of multimedia features with a new 4:3 2.5" color display and support for video playback. You can create your own movies or purchase music videos Pixar short films or select TV episodes via iTunes 6. Connectivity - USB through dock connector composite video (with A/V cable - sold separately) and audio through headphone jack or line out on the iPod Universal Dock (sold separately) Charge Time - about 4 hrs. (2 hrs. fast charge to 80% capacity) Audio Support - AAC (16 to 320 Kbps) Protected AAC (from iTunes Music Store) MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps) MP3 VBR Audible (formats 2 3 and 4) Apple Lossless WAV & AIFF Photo Support - syncs iPod-viewable photos in JPEG BMP GIF TIFF PSD (Mac only) and PNG formats Video Support - H.264 video - up to 768 Kbps 320 x 240 30 fps Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps 48 Khz stereo audio in. m4v. mp4 and. mov file formats / MPEG-4 video - up to 2.5 mbps 480 x 480 30 fps Simple Profile with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps 48 Khz stereo audio in. m4v. mp4 and. mov file formats Backlight Timer Sleep Timer 20 Equalizer Settings Shuffle Songs or Albums Date and Time Unit Dimensions - 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.43 Unit Weight - 4.8 oz. Color - White

• Stores up to 7500 songs 20000 photos or 75 hours of video playback


• 2.5-inch (diagonal) color LCD with LED backlight


• Up to 14 hours of music playback; up to 3 hours of slideshows with music; up to 2 hours of video playback


• Comes with earbud headphones and USB cable


• Compatible with Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 or later or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later

More detail ...

• iPod classic puts your entire music and video collection in your pocket with 80 GB of storage


• An enhanced interface offers a whole new way to browse and view your music and video


• Cover Flow technology lets you use the patented Click Wheel to flip through your music by album cover


• Beautifully designed iPod classic features a sleek all-metal enclosure


• 2.5-inch display; measures 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.41 inches (H x W x D) weighs 4.9 ounces

More detail ...

Now that you can buy movies from the iTunes Store and sync them to your iPod the whole world is your theater. With a 30GB or 80GB iPod in hand those movies fit comfortably next to TV shows new iPod games podcasts audiobooks photo albums and of course an entire library of music - up to 20000 songs in fact.How much can your pocket hold? That's up to you and your iPod. It holds up to 20000 songs up to 25000 photos and up to 100 hours of video - or any combination of each. So you can browse movies on the iTunes Store download the ones you want (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl perhaps?) and then sync it to your iPod. Same goes for TV episodes new iPod games 99? songs best-selling audiobooks and an entire universe of free podcasts. Go ahead. Fill 'er up.With all that music at your fingertips you may never want to stop listening. Lucky thing your iPod plays audio for up to 14 hours. Or if you'd rather watch you can feast your eyes on movies and TV shows for up to three-and-a-half hours.It might be a miracle. Otherwise it's hard to explain exactly how 30GB of storage can fit into an iPod that's over 30% thinner than the previous fourth generation. Or how an 80GB iPod can be the same size as the 60GB model before it. However it happened it means you can carry your entire music collection - plus a nice selection of video - absolutely everywhere you go. And a 60% brighter more vibrant display gives your album art photos and video extra oomph.Finding what you want to hear among 20000 songs could be quite a chore - unless you have an iPod. A new interface lets you search your iPod using the patented Click Wheel. And if you're a fan of live albums classical works or anything that sounds best when it's continuous iPod supports gapless playback that seamlessly transitions from one song to another.

• iPod holds 7500 songs many hours of video thousands of photos and more on 30 GB of storage


• Download songs podcasts videos games and more from the iTunes Store


• Large 2.5-inch 320x240-pixel color display screen is 60-percent brighter


• Search function lets you type out the name of a song with the Click Wheel for instant results


• Measures 2.4 x 4.1 x 0.43 inches (WxHxD) and weighs 4.8 ounces

More detail ...

Includes: iTunes for Mac and Windows earbud headphones & USB cable. iPod - The iPod is known around the world as a premier digital audio player. Then they added a color screen and photo support. Now they complete the trilogy of multimedia features with a new 4x3 2.5" color widescreen display and support for video playback. You can create your own movies or purchase music videos Pixar short films or select TV episodes via iTunes 6. Connectivity - USB through dock connector composite video (with A/V cable - sold separately) and audio through headphone jack or line out on the iPod Universal Dock (sold separately) Charge Time - about 4 hrs. (2 hrs. fast charge to 80% capacity) Audio Support - AAC (16 to 320 Kbps) Protected AAC (from iTunes Music Store) MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps) MP3 VBR Audible (formats 2 3 and 4) Apple Lossless WAV & AIFF Photo Support - syncs iPod-viewable photos in JPEG BMP GIF TIFF PSD (Mac only) and PNG formats Video Support - H.264 video - up to 768 Kbps 320 x 240 30 fps Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps 48 Khz stereo audio in. m4v. mp4 and. mov file formats / MPEG-4 video - up to 2.5 mbps 480 x 480 30 fps Simple Profile with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps 48 Khz stereo audio in. m4v. mp4 and. mov file formats Backlight Timer Sleep Timer 20 Equalizer Settings Shuffle Songs or Albums Date and Time Unit Dimensions - 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.43 Unit Weight - 4.8 oz. Color - Black

• Stores up to 7500 songs 20000 photos or 75 hours of video playback


• 2.5-inch (diagonal) color LCD with LED backlight


• Up to 14 hours of music playback; up to 3 hours of slideshows with music; up to 2 hours of video playback


• Comes with earbud headphones and USB cable


• Compatible with Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 or later or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later

More detail ...

• 120 GB capacity for 30000 songs 25000 photos or 150 hours of video


• Up to 36 hours of music playback or 6 hours of video playback when fully charged


• 2.5-inch color LCD with LED backlight and 320-by-240-pixel resolution


• Supported audio formats: AAC Protected AAC MP3 MP3 VBR Audible Apple Lossless AIFF and WAV


• Supported video formats: H.264 MPEG-4; Supported image file types: JPEG BMP GIF TIFF PSD (Mac only) and PNG

More detail ...

Includes: iTunes for Mac and Windows earbud headphones & USB cable. iPod - The iPod is known around the world as a premier digital audio player. Then they added a color screen and photo support. Now they complete the trilogy of multimedia features with a new 4x3 2.5" color widescreen display and support for video playback. You can create your own movies or purchase music videos Pixar short films or select TV episodes via iTunes 6. Connectivity - USB through dock connector composite video (with A/V cable - sold separately) and audio through headphone jack or line out on the iPod Universal Dock (sold separately) Charge Time - about 4 hrs. (2 hrs. fast charge to 80% capacity) Audio Support - AAC (16 to 320 Kbps) Protected AAC (from iTunes Music Store) MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps) MP3 VBR Audible (formats 2 3 and 4) Apple Lossless WAV & AIFF Photo Support - syncs iPod-viewable photos in JPEG BMP GIF TIFF PSD (Mac only) and PNG formats Video Support - H.264 video - up to 768 Kbps 320 x 240 30 fps Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps 48 Khz stereo audio in. m4v. mp4 and. mov file formats / MPEG-4 video - up to 2.5 mbps 480 x 480 30 fps Simple Profile with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps 48 Khz stereo audio in. m4v. mp4 and. mov file formats Backlight Timer Sleep Timer 20 Equalizer Settings Shuffle Songs or Albums Date and Time Unit Dimensions - 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.43 Unit Weight - 4.8 oz. Color - Black

• Stores up to 7500 songs 20000 photos or 75 hours of video playback


• 2.5-inch (diagonal) color LCD with LED backlight


• Up to 14 hours of music playback; up to 3 hours of slideshows with music; up to 2 hours of video playback


• Comes with earbud headphones and USB cable


• Compatible with Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 or later or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later

More detail ...

My favorite iPod to date. (A.K.A. The iPod Apple should've released in 2007.)

NOTICE: This review is for the NEW 2009 160GB iPod Classic NOT the 2007 160GB iPod Classic!



The new 160GB iPod Classic is easily Apple Inc.'s best iPod to date and out of all of the iPods that I own this is my favorite.



First the capacity of this iPod is simply unbeatable. I've yet to see another portable media player that can match the iPod Classic in capacity. I have a huge music library and it's nice to be able to carry every song that I own on my person at all times. What's more thanks to the iPod Classic's capacity I also have room to carry a few videos with me and some of my photos. If you don't like having to pick which songs to load onto your portable media player the iPod Classic is the way to go.



The second thing that I love about this iPod can be summed up in two words: it works. The 160GB iPod Classic that was introduced in 2007 was extremely buggy had a non-responsive Clickwheel on many units crashed frequently and required a hit-and-miss firmware update to stop the hard drive from spinning even when the device was "off" which often lead to dead batteries. All of these problems left the 2007 160GB iPod Classic warming shelves and earning it the infamous "honor" of being the "worst selling iPod ever" according to Apple. I'm pleased to say that the new 160GB iPod Classic released earlier this month has virtually none of these problems. There's no "spinning hard drive bug" the Clickwheel is incredibly responsive and the device isn't crash-prone. While it's true that many of these issues were fixed with last year's iPod Classic there hasn't been a truly functional 160GB model until now. To put it bluntly this is the iPod that Apple should've released in 2007.



Another thing that I really like about this iPod and the iPod Classic in general is it's ability to double as an external hard drive. While I believe that the iPod Nano is also capable of this the only iPod that really has enough space to function as an external hard drive is the iPod Classic. The hard drive functionality admittedly reduces the number of devices I have to carry on me at any given time. If you regularly work with large files and are considering a new iPod the iPod Classic is the way to go plain and simple.



So what are the caveats? Well for starters as with every other iPod Classic this is a hard-drive (rather than flash-memory) based device. As a result it has moving parts which make it unsuitable for running or any physical activity that exerts mechanical shock onto the iPod. Unless you exercise constantly with your iPod though this really shouldn't be an issue. The only other caveat which is more of personal taste than an actual flaw that I can find is that Apple has not made any cosmetic changes to this device since they introduced it in 2007. Now don't get me wrong the point of an iPod "Classic" is to retain the "Classic" design but after seeing how much better a black Clickwheel looks on the silver iPod Nano I'd have thought that Apple would have given the silver iPod Classic a black Clickwheel as well. However I admit that this is entirely my personal preference and not a "flaw" per se. I've put a quick list of pros and cons together which can be seen below:





Pros: Largest iPod Capacity-wise long battery life "Genius" feature excellent value for your money well-built doubles as an external hard drive and improvements to Cover Flow.



Cons: Hard Drive (rather than Flash memory) based storage medium; device is cosmetically identical to the 2007 80GB model. (I still don't understand why Apple hasn't colored the Clickwheel black on the silver model to match the iPod Nano.)



Finally I would highly recommend this product which is why it gets five stars from me. I don't like the iPod Nano; it's too small for my hands and the screen is too small for my eyes. While the iPod Touch may have app store access and Wi-Fi I find it to be a really gimmicky device that makes for a poor portable media player (Apple was wise to position it as a handheld game system) and is really an "iPhone without a phone." In contrast the iPod Classic is an excellent portable media player it has an excellent interface and it only costs $249 dollars. To put things in perspective the 2009 160GB iPod Classic costs $70 dollars more than a 16GB iPod Nano and $150 dollars less than a 64GB iPod Touch. All in all I highly recommend this product.More detail ...

My favorite iPod to date. (A.K.A. The iPod Apple should've released in 2007.)

NOTICE: This review is for the NEW 2009 160GB iPod Classic NOT the 2007 160GB iPod Classic!



The new 160GB iPod Classic is easily Apple Inc.'s best iPod to date and out of all of the iPods that I own this is my favorite.



First the capacity of this iPod is simply unbeatable. I've yet to see another portable media player that can match the iPod Classic in capacity. I have a huge music library and it's nice to be able to carry every song that I own on my person at all times. What's more thanks to the iPod Classic's capacity I also have room to carry a few videos with me and some of my photos. If you don't like having to pick which songs to load onto your portable media player the iPod Classic is the way to go.



The second thing that I love about this iPod can be summed up in two words: it works. The 160GB iPod Classic that was introduced in 2007 was extremely buggy had a non-responsive Clickwheel on many units crashed frequently and required a hit-and-miss firmware update to stop the hard drive from spinning even when the device was "off" which often lead to dead batteries. All of these problems left the 2007 160GB iPod Classic warming shelves and earning it the infamous "honor" of being the "worst selling iPod ever" according to Apple. I'm pleased to say that the new 160GB iPod Classic released earlier this month has virtually none of these problems. There's no "spinning hard drive bug" the Clickwheel is incredibly responsive and the device isn't crash-prone. While it's true that many of these issues were fixed with last year's iPod Classic there hasn't been a truly functional 160GB model until now. To put it bluntly this is the iPod that Apple should've released in 2007.



Another thing that I really like about this iPod and the iPod Classic in general is it's ability to double as an external hard drive. While I believe that the iPod Nano is also capable of this the only iPod that really has enough space to function as an external hard drive is the iPod Classic. The hard drive functionality admittedly reduces the number of devices I have to carry on me at any given time. If you regularly work with large files and are considering a new iPod the iPod Classic is the way to go plain and simple.



So what are the caveats? Well for starters as with every other iPod Classic this is a hard-drive (rather than flash-memory) based device. As a result it has moving parts which make it unsuitable for running or any physical activity that exerts mechanical shock onto the iPod. Unless you exercise constantly with your iPod though this really shouldn't be an issue. The only other caveat which is more of personal taste than an actual flaw that I can find is that Apple has not made any cosmetic changes to this device since they introduced it in 2007. Now don't get me wrong the point of an iPod "Classic" is to retain the "Classic" design but after seeing how much better a black Clickwheel looks on the silver iPod Nano I'd have thought that Apple would have given the silver iPod Classic a black Clickwheel as well. However I admit that this is entirely my personal preference and not a "flaw" per se. I've put a quick list of pros and cons together which can be seen below:





Pros: Largest iPod Capacity-wise long battery life "Genius" feature excellent value for your money well-built doubles as an external hard drive and improvements to Cover Flow.



Cons: Hard Drive (rather than Flash memory) based storage medium; device is cosmetically identical to the 2007 80GB model. (I still don't understand why Apple hasn't colored the Clickwheel black on the silver model to match the iPod Nano.)



Finally I would highly recommend this product which is why it gets five stars from me. I don't like the iPod Nano; it's too small for my hands and the screen is too small for my eyes. While the iPod Touch may have app store access and Wi-Fi I find it to be a really gimmicky device that makes for a poor portable media player (Apple was wise to position it as a handheld game system) and is really an "iPhone without a phone." In contrast the iPod Classic is an excellent portable media player it has an excellent interface and it only costs $249 dollars. To put things in perspective the 2009 160GB iPod Classic costs $70 dollars more than a 16GB iPod Nano and $150 dollars less than a 64GB iPod Touch. All in all I highly recommend this product.More detail ...

The Suprise Price and Great Build Make This a Fantastic MP3 Player

Although there are no large differences between the last iPod with Video Playback (like there was with the Nano) Apple has done some improvements that should be to your liking. Apple suprised everybody by making the price $249 and greatly impacted Microsoft's future MP3 player's price point.



*Technically this is still not the iPod Video this is still an iPod with video playback; rumors are still buzzing about a Widescreen iPod but still no official word*



NEW:

-Longer battery life

-Games

-iTunes 7 has movies

-Search feature

-Larger capacity

-Brighter screen



GOOD:

-Great build

-Bright screen

-Battery life on video is double what it was before

-Great interface

-Innovative search

-Games are pretty fun

-Excellent design

-Minimal buttons

-Oodles of potential accessories



BAD:

-Still scratches easily

-Prone to fingerprints

-Sometimes a little sluggish (not as much as before)

-Battery isn't removable

-Still no FM tuner line-in or voice record

-Expensive accessories (not many in box)

-Cheap earbuds



BOTTOM LINE: Still at the top of its game months after its original release and the minor upgrades and tweaks keep this the best MP3 player on the market.More detail ...

Greatest music player with video too!

The iPod first appeared four years ago and the features continue to grow with each update.



The iPod with video playback was introduced on October 13 2005. However one should not necessarily consider this player a video player but a great iPod music player with video capabilities as a fantastic bonus. Nevertheless the iPod with video playback is the most capable and feature-rich iPod ever produced by Apple.



I have owned the 60 gig iPod with video playback for several days now and I continue to be impressed. Its physical appearance quality craftsmanship and the wide array of features are keeping me entertained!



Video Playback - The iPod plays back H264 and MPEG4 encoded video. The iPod's new display is larger than ever at 2.5 inches giving it a resolution of 320x240. What video content can you play on your iPod? This area is limited at least currently. You can buy music videos on iTunes at $1.99 per song which will play beautifully on the iPod. Furthermore Apple has made available select television shows for download on iTunes. They cost $1.99 per episode for titles including ABC's hits Lost and Desperate Housewives. You can also watch the episodes you purchase on your computer. If you want to put some of your own video onto your iPod you will need to use an application such as QuickTime Pro to convert the video to the specific requirements to play on the iPod. You can also find video podcasts which will play on the new iPod. Even if you do not plan to view video on the new iPod its primary purpose is to be used as the world's best music player. You can still benefit from the beautiful new display for it will help you find your favorite music faster and you can view the album art that accompanies your music.



Size of new iPod - Does the picture of the new iPod make it appear larger to you? Well it did to me. The iPod looked wider in the photos I saw. However it is not. The height and width of the iPod are identical to the previous generation iPod with click wheel. The only change in dimensions is the depth. The new iPod is actually thinner than what came before it! Yes even this 60 gig is thinner than the previous 20 gig photo model. What does all this mean? The iPod continues get smaller making it even easier to carry.



Capacity - This 60 gig iPod has room for a lot of entertainment. With storage for up to 15000 songs 25000 photos or 150 hours of video. The great thing I love about my 60 gig iPod is that my music photos and video only take up about 15 gigabytes. However I use the additional space to backup data from my computer. This is incredibly helpful and could be a real saver if something happened to your computer. See the iPod functions as an external hard drive so you can backup all sorts of data. Furthermore with the video capabilities on the new iPod you may find yourself needing the extra space that this 60 gig iPod provides.



New Software Features - Apple has added features to the new iPod besides video support. First they have a clock feature which quickly allows you to view the time in up to four different time zones simultaneously. Furthermore there is a stop watch and a screen lock which you can enable to keep people from snooping on your calendar and/or contacts.



Battery - The battery life is one of the most important specifications that you as an iPod user are going to care about. This 60 gigabyte iPod sports a battery that will last up to 20 hours when playing only music. Also note that repeatedly changing songs manually and turning on the backlight will use up your battery considerably faster. Furthermore the iPod's battery lasts a maximum of three hours when playing back video. This version of the iPod no longer includes an adapter to charge the iPod at an electrical outlet. You will have to buy that adapter separately or always charge the iPod via USB 2.0. The charging works fine from your computer's USB 2.0 but if you're traveling you might want the ability to charge with the adapter. Also note that the iPod no longer supports syncing via firewire cable. You will have to use USB 2.0.



Mac or PC? This iPod works beautifully with either a Mac or PC. The iPod syncs your contacts video and music via the iTunes software.



Podcasting - The iPod continues to support podcasting. Podcasts are internet radio broadcasts and there are thousands covering nearly every subject imaginable and more are coming out every day. Podcasts are quickly becoming popular content on iPods around the world. Check them out for this iPod supports Podcasts out of the box. There are also video podcasts so with the new iPod you will be able to watch video podcasts on the iPod's display.



Appearance - The iPod is beautiful but the back's chrome finish is prone to scratches and the screen can become scratched as well. It is a very good idea to protect the back of the iPod and the screen in some way. There are many cases and protectors out there and you will surely find something you like. The new iPod is available in a black or white finish. The black color is quickly becoming the most popular but the white iPod is still the signature color. Do note that the black may show fingerprints and scratches more than the white iPod much as a black car shows these blemishes more than a lighter colored car. Apple is including a small sleeve-type case with this iPod to help you keep it in good condition.



Audiobooks - I'm always using my iPod to listen to audiobooks. You can store literally hundreds of audiobooks on here that you buy from iTunes or Audible. The iPod even has a feature that can slow down or speed up the reading of the audiobook so that you hear it at just the right pace.



Output - The iPod connects to your PC or Mac via the dock connector at the bottom of the unit. You will connect the included cable to the computer via a USB 2.0 port. Furthermore accessories are being made that will also connect to the bottom dock port and you may purchase Apple's Universal iPod dock for easy syncing to your computer. The dock (available separately) also includes s-video output so you can show off slideshows and video on a television. There are also iPod A/V cables available that allow composite video and audio output for connecting your iPod to your television. This might interest you not only to display slideshows on a television but also to display TV shows or music videos on a television which you purchased from iTunes.



Value - This 60 gigabyte iPod is priced at $399 which is a great value. It provides a huge amount of storage space and more features than ever.



Overall this is another excellent product from Apple Computer. The design is elegant simple and intuitive. It will provide hours of entertainment and convenience. Enjoy your iPod experience.More detail ...

The Original - Survives

The updated iPod Classic was probably the least exciting of the new iPods announced in the September 2008 update but that does not mean it should be dismissed.



I own the 160 GB iPod Classic that has now been discontinued but there are few differences (perhaps the biggest being the much slimmer shape of this 120 model) and I did get to check this updated 120 GB version out at the store when picking up the new nano and touch.



Firstly the 120 GB version is again smaller than the largest capacity available last year but it is a single platter hard drive which allows it to maintain the slim shape of the 80 GB version from last year. More storage a hundred dollars less and just as small. That is progress despite calls from others that the classic isn't exciting. It still serves its purpose as the original iPod idea. Big capacity in a simple to use device.



Next the software has been slightly updated on the iPod Classic. It now includes Genius like iTunes and the other new iPods. This allows you when on a song you enjoy to select the genius feature. The iPod will then compile a list of songs (playlist) which goes together with the original song you were listening to. This helps you rediscover music in your library with a playlist to fit your mood at the time. I have been using the genius feature for a few days now and it is impressive the way it compiles these playlists. I was skeptical but overall it does a good job. Furthermore as another review mentioned the iPod does seem more responsive with this update from what I saw at the store compared to my original 160 GB iPod Classic. Some speculation has been that the older iPod Classics will receive the software update of this new one but I'm not holding my breath on that.



Overall the original iPod concept was so good and that is why the iPod Classic is still a solid choice for a music and media player. It will hold thousands and thousands of songs (up to 30000 according to Apple at 128 bitrate). I also backup some important files to my iPod Classic in disk mode so that I have that additional extra copy of my most vital files. When you have such a large iPod you can do that. It shouldn't be forgotten either that while the display of the iPod Classic isn't as good as the iPod Touch or iPhone it is still quite good and you can play music videos TV shows and movies purchased on the iTunes Store.



Battery life for this new 120 GB model improved over the 80GB model from last year. Apple now estimates it at 36 hours audio and 6 hours video.



I'd recommend the iPod Classic without hesitation to those who have more than 8 or 16 GBs of music in their iTunes library and want to carry their entire collection. Furthermore if you have videos and video podcasts you want to always carry with you again you can't beat the storage. I have the lower capacity flash devices as well but the big hard drive based iPod Classic continues to play an important role in my iPod Collection.More detail ...

Very nice (yes I actually have one)

As of this writing no reviews are from someone who actually HAS one of the new iPods (10/19). That is about to change....



My 40GB iPod's hard disk had been deteriorating for a while until it stopped working altogether. That happened to be the day before the iPod video announcement (last Tuesday).



On to what you really want to know and what you can't get from Apple's website or reviews regurgitating technical specifications:



1) Can you actually enjoy watching video on a screen that small? What about the video quality?



In short if you're holding the iPod as close to your face as you would hold an older iPod to really read what song is playing the video quality is actually quite nice. The screen is noticeably bigger (the height is about the size of the old iPod width). If you're wondering how the quality comes out on an iPod screen (which is normally fairly pixelated) when you load a video it toggles into a mode much akin to when a computer plays a graphics intensive video game. It takes about 10 seconds for a feature-length film to load (i.e. between clicking play and when it starts playing).



With regard to movies the iPod doesn't support chapters. My guess is that people will eventually want movies distributed as folders witch chapters being the individual files. This will allow chapter skipping. That said once a movie loads fast forwarding works very well.



I loaded a fairly graphics-intensive movie on there at about the highest quality the iPod would allow. The actions scenes come out fine...about what you would expect for an MPGE4.



2) What the heck does this thing actually look like in your hand?



It is about the size of older iPods. It is thinner (a lot thinner if like me you are upgrading from a non-photo Gen4 40gb). The front is a flat screen much like the iPod nano but bigger. The clickwheel is a bit smaller than it was on older iPods but bigger than that of a nano.



3) The screen



I have to say the bigger screen is nice in and of itself. If you have longer track names (if you have live music etc.) a lot more of the name will appear. This is a very nice subtlety since in oder to read a song title you don't need to wait......for....it....to.....scroll....



4) Is it worth it?



Jobs called this a regular iPod with "video capability." I'd say the video capabilities are a little better than that gives it credit for. I don't yet have a composite adapter so I can't see how this comes out on a TV...



With regard to exporting video to TV there ARE the following options:

TV Out (on/off)

Video Signal (NTSC/PAL)

Widescreen (on/off)



If your iPod is breaking or is pretty old I'd definitely upgrade. If you travel a lot or have downtime where you could hold the device pretty close to your face (train airplane etc.) I'd definitely get it. If you don't have much time to enjoy the video capabilities then it probably isn't worth it.



5) Firewire



The tech specs didn't say anything about firewire so I had been wondering whether it is supported. It actually is not supported at all. In fact I tried connecting via my old firewire cable and the iPod brought up a screen that said something like "firewire is not supported. Please use the supplied USB cable."



6) The "case"



I saw that a case was included on the Apple website...basically the case as you might suspect is pretty bad. I got a 60GB model and it barely squeezes into the case. That said cases that support the new screen will likely be unavailable for 3 weeks or so (if what happened with the nano repeats itself) and so it is ncie to have SOMETHING to prevent you from scratching your new screen (which is now more important because it plays video).



Anyway I hope this answers any questions you might have. I've tried to stick to differences between this beauty and the iPod photo.



If you're still on the fence let me say this...go for it. It is really quite nice.More detail ...

Minor improvements makes this a great player

First of all this is to my knowledge the cheapest 80GB Hard Drive MP3 player on the market and with a name like Apple backing it up this rendition of the iPod is well worth your time to look at.



*Technically this is still not the iPod Video this is still an iPod with video playback; rumors are still buzzing about a Widescreen iPod but still no official word*



NEW:

-Longer battery life

-Games

-iTunes 7 has movies

-Search feature

-Larger capacity

-Brighter screen



GOOD:

-Great GB/$$ ratio

-Great build

-Bright screen

-Battery life on video is double what it was before

-Great interface

-Innovative search

-Games are pretty fun

-Excellent design

-Minimal buttons

-Oodles of potential accessories



BAD:

-Still scratches easily

-Prone to fingerprints

-Sometimes a little sluggish (not as much as before)

-Battery isn't removable

-Still no FM tuner line-in or voice record

-Expensive accessories (not many in box)

-Cheap earbuds



BOTTOM LINE: If you are too hardcore for the 30GB version than this is definately your cup of tea. This is the perfect MP3 player for any causual music and video enjoyer's needs!More detail ...

The Suprise Price and Great Build Make This a Fantastic MP3 Player

Although there are no large differences between the last iPod with Video Playback (like there was with the Nano) Apple has done some improvements that should be to your liking. Apple suprised everybody by making the price $249 and greatly impacted Microsoft's future MP3 player's price point.



*Technically this is still not the iPod Video this is still an iPod with video playback; rumors are still buzzing about a Widescreen iPod but still no official word*



NEW:

-Longer battery life

-Games

-iTunes 7 has movies

-Search feature

-Larger capacity

-Brighter screen



GOOD:

-Great build

-Bright screen

-Battery life on video is double what it was before

-Great interface

-Innovative search

-Games are pretty fun

-Excellent design

-Minimal buttons

-Oodles of potential accessories



BAD:

-Still scratches easily

-Prone to fingerprints

-Sometimes a little sluggish (not as much as before)

-Battery isn't removable

-Still no FM tuner line-in or voice record

-Expensive accessories (not many in box)

-Cheap earbuds



BOTTOM LINE: Still at the top of its game months after its original release and the minor upgrades and tweaks keep this the best MP3 player on the market.More detail ...

The New Firmware seems to have ironed out A LOT of the bugs others have talked about!

**Before you read some of the negative reviews please consider this was BEFORE the new firmware update 1.0.3 came out so unfortunately they had unresponsive clickwheels itunes messing up etc. Also some people simply did NOT upgrade their firmware for whatever reason but A LOT of those problems have been fixed with the new firmware so UPGRADE YOUR FIRMWARE AS SOON AS YOU GET YOUR IPOD! It will make a BIG difference!**



Ok on to the review..I just got my 80 gb ipod classic recently with a 3 year extended service plan immediately got itunes version 7.5 and upgraded the firmware immediately to 1.0.3 which seems to have taken care of A LOT of bugs people have been reporting. It must have because I am not getting ANY of the problems other have reported such as laggy clickwheel itunes freezing etc. The clickwheel is VERY responsive only a light touch is needed and scrolling through cover art was very quick! No problems whatsoever with the clickwheel. I also have had no problems copying files to itunes and transferring them to my ipod. The ipod itself is a thing of beauty love the non scratchable surface but the back of the ipod is where you can see all the fingerprints etc so get a good cover for it. The slimness of it is very sleek and heck this ipod just looks cool. I got the ipod up and running in no time after I transferred my music over. Love the search feature as well. There is a lot of features settings and extra's. Heck I even like the clock.



PLEASE NOTE:TURN OFF & DON'T use the EQ (equalizer setting)if you want normal distortion free sound. I was using the EQ and wondered why a lot of my songs had distortion. I thought it was due to the bad sound everyone was talking about until I turned OFF the EQ. Upon turning the EQ off the distortion vanished completely the sound was just fine pretty good in fact. It's a shame that you have to turn off the EQ settings to get good sound. Hopefully Apple will fix this with a firmware update.



I almost got one of the itouch ipods but the very limited space is what kept me from doing so. 80 gb is plenty of space for my music a bit of videos etc. It might not have wifi or a touch screen but it's got tons of space for my music and that's what counts! I love my ipod classic can't find much to be picky about except for the sound when EQ is enabled. It does exactly what it's supposed to is easy to navigate videos look crisp/great on it and most of all it holds a crapload of music. Just remember to upgrade your firmware to the newest version disable EQ and invest in a good pair of headphones. One of the best things about the ipod classic is that because it has so much space I don't have to worry about how many mp3's I put on it. I've never downloaded so many mp3's in my life! I literally put my entire collection of mp3's on it and still have tons of space left. Overall I rate the ipod classic 80 gb (black)...absolutely superb.More detail ...

Very nice (yes I actually have one)

As of this writing no reviews are from someone who actually HAS one of the new iPods (10/19). That is about to change....



My 40GB iPod's hard disk had been deteriorating for a while until it stopped working altogether. That happened to be the day before the iPod video announcement (last Tuesday).



On to what you really want to know and what you can't get from Apple's website or reviews regurgitating technical specifications:



1) Can you actually enjoy watching video on a screen that small? What about the video quality?



In short if you're holding the iPod as close to your face as you would hold an older iPod to really read what song is playing the video quality is actually quite nice. The screen is noticeably bigger (the height is about the size of the old iPod width). If you're wondering how the quality comes out on an iPod screen (which is normally fairly pixelated) when you load a video it toggles into a mode much akin to when a computer plays a graphics intensive video game. It takes about 10 seconds for a feature-length film to load (i.e. between clicking play and when it starts playing).



With regard to movies the iPod doesn't support chapters. My guess is that people will eventually want movies distributed as folders witch chapters being the individual files. This will allow chapter skipping. That said once a movie loads fast forwarding works very well.



I loaded a fairly graphics-intensive movie on there at about the highest quality the iPod would allow. The actions scenes come out fine...about what you would expect for an MPGE4.



2) What the heck does this thing actually look like in your hand?



It is about the size of older iPods. It is thinner (a lot thinner if like me you are upgrading from a non-photo Gen4 40gb). The front is a flat screen much like the iPod nano but bigger. The clickwheel is a bit smaller than it was on older iPods but bigger than that of a nano.



3) The screen



I have to say the bigger screen is nice in and of itself. If you have longer track names (if you have live music etc.) a lot more of the name will appear. This is a very nice subtlety since in oder to read a song title you don't need to wait......for....it....to.....scroll....



4) Is it worth it?



Jobs called this a regular iPod with "video capability." I'd say the video capabilities are a little better than that gives it credit for. I don't yet have a composite adapter so I can't see how this comes out on a TV...



With regard to exporting video to TV there ARE the following options:

TV Out (on/off)

Video Signal (NTSC/PAL)

Widescreen (on/off)



If your iPod is breaking or is pretty old I'd definitely upgrade. If you travel a lot or have downtime where you could hold the device pretty close to your face (train airplane etc.) I'd definitely get it. If you don't have much time to enjoy the video capabilities then it probably isn't worth it.



5) Firewire



The tech specs didn't say anything about firewire so I had been wondering whether it is supported. It actually is not supported at all. In fact I tried connecting via my old firewire cable and the iPod brought up a screen that said something like "firewire is not supported. Please use the supplied USB cable."



6) The "case"



I saw that a case was included on the Apple website...basically the case as you might suspect is pretty bad. I got a 60GB model and it barely squeezes into the case. That said cases that support the new screen will likely be unavailable for 3 weeks or so (if what happened with the nano repeats itself) and so it is ncie to have SOMETHING to prevent you from scratching your new screen (which is now more important because it plays video).



Anyway I hope this answers any questions you might have. I've tried to stick to differences between this beauty and the iPod photo.



If you're still on the fence let me say this...go for it. It is really quite nice.More detail ...

The New Firmware seems to have ironed out A LOT of the bugs others have talked about!

**Before you read some of the negative reviews please consider this was BEFORE the new firmware update 1.0.3 came out so unfortunately they had unresponsive clickwheels itunes messing up etc. Also some people simply did NOT upgrade their firmware for whatever reason but A LOT of those problems have been fixed with the new firmware so UPGRADE YOUR FIRMWARE AS SOON AS YOU GET YOUR IPOD! It will make a BIG difference!**



Ok on to the review..I just got my 80 gb ipod classic recently with a 3 year extended service plan immediately got itunes version 7.5 and upgraded the firmware immediately to 1.0.3 which seems to have taken care of A LOT of bugs people have been reporting. It must have because I am not getting ANY of the problems other have reported such as laggy clickwheel itunes freezing etc. The clickwheel is VERY responsive only a light touch is needed and scrolling through cover art was very quick! No problems whatsoever with the clickwheel. I also have had no problems copying files to itunes and transferring them to my ipod. The ipod itself is a thing of beauty love the non scratchable surface but the back of the ipod is where you can see all the fingerprints etc so get a good cover for it. The slimness of it is very sleek and heck this ipod just looks cool. I got the ipod up and running in no time after I transferred my music over. Love the search feature as well. There is a lot of features settings and extra's. Heck I even like the clock.



PLEASE NOTE:TURN OFF & DON'T use the EQ (equalizer setting)if you want normal distortion free sound. I was using the EQ and wondered why a lot of my songs had distortion. I thought it was due to the bad sound everyone was talking about until I turned OFF the EQ. Upon turning the EQ off the distortion vanished completely the sound was just fine pretty good in fact. It's a shame that you have to turn off the EQ settings to get good sound. Hopefully Apple will fix this with a firmware update.



I almost got one of the itouch ipods but the very limited space is what kept me from doing so. 80 gb is plenty of space for my music a bit of videos etc. It might not have wifi or a touch screen but it's got tons of space for my music and that's what counts! I love my ipod classic can't find much to be picky about except for the sound when EQ is enabled. It does exactly what it's supposed to is easy to navigate videos look crisp/great on it and most of all it holds a crapload of music. Just remember to upgrade your firmware to the newest version disable EQ and invest in a good pair of headphones. One of the best things about the ipod classic is that because it has so much space I don't have to worry about how many mp3's I put on it. I've never downloaded so many mp3's in my life! I literally put my entire collection of mp3's on it and still have tons of space left. Overall I rate the ipod classic 80 gb (black)...absolutely superb.More detail ...

The Original - Survives

The updated iPod Classic was probably the least exciting of the new iPods announced in the September 2008 update but that does not mean it should be dismissed.



I own the 160 GB iPod Classic that has now been discontinued but there are few differences (perhaps the biggest being the much slimmer shape of this 120 model) and I did get to check this updated 120 GB version out at the store when picking up the new nano and touch.



Firstly the 120 GB version is again smaller than the largest capacity available last year but it is a single platter hard drive which allows it to maintain the slim shape of the 80 GB version from last year. More storage a hundred dollars less and just as small. That is progress despite calls from others that the classic isn't exciting. It still serves its purpose as the original iPod idea. Big capacity in a simple to use device.



Next the software has been slightly updated on the iPod Classic. It now includes Genius like iTunes and the other new iPods. This allows you when on a song you enjoy to select the genius feature. The iPod will then compile a list of songs (playlist) which goes together with the original song you were listening to. This helps you rediscover music in your library with a playlist to fit your mood at the time. I have been using the genius feature for a few days now and it is impressive the way it compiles these playlists. I was skeptical but overall it does a good job. Furthermore as another review mentioned the iPod does seem more responsive with this update from what I saw at the store compared to my original 160 GB iPod Classic. Some speculation has been that the older iPod Classics will receive the software update of this new one but I'm not holding my breath on that.



Overall the original iPod concept was so good and that is why the iPod Classic is still a solid choice for a music and media player. It will hold thousands and thousands of songs (up to 30000 according to Apple at 128 bitrate). I also backup some important files to my iPod Classic in disk mode so that I have that additional extra copy of my most vital files. When you have such a large iPod you can do that. It shouldn't be forgotten either that while the display of the iPod Classic isn't as good as the iPod Touch or iPhone it is still quite good and you can play music videos TV shows and movies purchased on the iTunes Store.



Battery life for this new 120 GB model improved over the 80GB model from last year. Apple now estimates it at 36 hours audio and 6 hours video.



I'd recommend the iPod Classic without hesitation to those who have more than 8 or 16 GBs of music in their iTunes library and want to carry their entire collection. Furthermore if you have videos and video podcasts you want to always carry with you again you can't beat the storage. I have the lower capacity flash devices as well but the big hard drive based iPod Classic continues to play an important role in my iPod Collection.More detail ...

My favorite iPod to date. (A.K.A. The iPod Apple should've released in 2007.)

NOTICE: This review is for the NEW 2009 160GB iPod Classic NOT the 2007 160GB iPod Classic!



The new 160GB iPod Classic is easily Apple Inc.'s best iPod to date and out of all of the iPods that I own this is my favorite.



First the capacity of this iPod is simply unbeatable. I've yet to see another portable media player that can match the iPod Classic in capacity. I have a huge music library and it's nice to be able to carry every song that I own on my person at all times. What's more thanks to the iPod Classic's capacity I also have room to carry a few videos with me and some of my photos. If you don't like having to pick which songs to load onto your portable media player the iPod Classic is the way to go.



The second thing that I love about this iPod can be summed up in two words: it works. The 160GB iPod Classic that was introduced in 2007 was extremely buggy had a non-responsive Clickwheel on many units crashed frequently and required a hit-and-miss firmware update to stop the hard drive from spinning even when the device was "off" which often lead to dead batteries. All of these problems left the 2007 160GB iPod Classic warming shelves and earning it the infamous "honor" of being the "worst selling iPod ever" according to Apple. I'm pleased to say that the new 160GB iPod Classic released earlier this month has virtually none of these problems. There's no "spinning hard drive bug" the Clickwheel is incredibly responsive and the device isn't crash-prone. While it's true that many of these issues were fixed with last year's iPod Classic there hasn't been a truly functional 160GB model until now. To put it bluntly this is the iPod that Apple should've released in 2007.



Another thing that I really like about this iPod and the iPod Classic in general is it's ability to double as an external hard drive. While I believe that the iPod Nano is also capable of this the only iPod that really has enough space to function as an external hard drive is the iPod Classic. The hard drive functionality admittedly reduces the number of devices I have to carry on me at any given time. If you regularly work with large files and are considering a new iPod the iPod Classic is the way to go plain and simple.



So what are the caveats? Well for starters as with every other iPod Classic this is a hard-drive (rather than flash-memory) based device. As a result it has moving parts which make it unsuitable for running or any physical activity that exerts mechanical shock onto the iPod. Unless you exercise constantly with your iPod though this really shouldn't be an issue. The only other caveat which is more of personal taste than an actual flaw that I can find is that Apple has not made any cosmetic changes to this device since they introduced it in 2007. Now don't get me wrong the point of an iPod "Classic" is to retain the "Classic" design but after seeing how much better a black Clickwheel looks on the silver iPod Nano I'd have thought that Apple would have given the silver iPod Classic a black Clickwheel as well. However I admit that this is entirely my personal preference and not a "flaw" per se. I've put a quick list of pros and cons together which can be seen below:





Pros: Largest iPod Capacity-wise long battery life "Genius" feature excellent value for your money well-built doubles as an external hard drive and improvements to Cover Flow.



Cons: Hard Drive (rather than Flash memory) based storage medium; device is cosmetically identical to the 2007 80GB model. (I still don't understand why Apple hasn't colored the Clickwheel black on the silver model to match the iPod Nano.)



Finally I would highly recommend this product which is why it gets five stars from me. I don't like the iPod Nano; it's too small for my hands and the screen is too small for my eyes. While the iPod Touch may have app store access and Wi-Fi I find it to be a really gimmicky device that makes for a poor portable media player (Apple was wise to position it as a handheld game system) and is really an "iPhone without a phone." In contrast the iPod Classic is an excellent portable media player it has an excellent interface and it only costs $249 dollars. To put things in perspective the 2009 160GB iPod Classic costs $70 dollars more than a 16GB iPod Nano and $150 dollars less than a 64GB iPod Touch. All in all I highly recommend this product.More detail ...

My favorite iPod to date. (A.K.A. The iPod Apple should've released in 2007.)

NOTICE: This review is for the NEW 2009 160GB iPod Classic NOT the 2007 160GB iPod Classic!



The new 160GB iPod Classic is easily Apple Inc.'s best iPod to date and out of all of the iPods that I own this is my favorite.



First the capacity of this iPod is simply unbeatable. I've yet to see another portable media player that can match the iPod Classic in capacity. I have a huge music library and it's nice to be able to carry every song that I own on my person at all times. What's more thanks to the iPod Classic's capacity I also have room to carry a few videos with me and some of my photos. If you don't like having to pick which songs to load onto your portable media player the iPod Classic is the way to go.



The second thing that I love about this iPod can be summed up in two words: it works. The 160GB iPod Classic that was introduced in 2007 was extremely buggy had a non-responsive Clickwheel on many units crashed frequently and required a hit-and-miss firmware update to stop the hard drive from spinning even when the device was "off" which often lead to dead batteries. All of these problems left the 2007 160GB iPod Classic warming shelves and earning it the infamous "honor" of being the "worst selling iPod ever" according to Apple. I'm pleased to say that the new 160GB iPod Classic released earlier this month has virtually none of these problems. There's no "spinning hard drive bug" the Clickwheel is incredibly responsive and the device isn't crash-prone. While it's true that many of these issues were fixed with last year's iPod Classic there hasn't been a truly functional 160GB model until now. To put it bluntly this is the iPod that Apple should've released in 2007.



Another thing that I really like about this iPod and the iPod Classic in general is it's ability to double as an external hard drive. While I believe that the iPod Nano is also capable of this the only iPod that really has enough space to function as an external hard drive is the iPod Classic. The hard drive functionality admittedly reduces the number of devices I have to carry on me at any given time. If you regularly work with large files and are considering a new iPod the iPod Classic is the way to go plain and simple.



So what are the caveats? Well for starters as with every other iPod Classic this is a hard-drive (rather than flash-memory) based device. As a result it has moving parts which make it unsuitable for running or any physical activity that exerts mechanical shock onto the iPod. Unless you exercise constantly with your iPod though this really shouldn't be an issue. The only other caveat which is more of personal taste than an actual flaw that I can find is that Apple has not made any cosmetic changes to this device since they introduced it in 2007. Now don't get me wrong the point of an iPod "Classic" is to retain the "Classic" design but after seeing how much better a black Clickwheel looks on the silver iPod Nano I'd have thought that Apple would have given the silver iPod Classic a black Clickwheel as well. However I admit that this is entirely my personal preference and not a "flaw" per se. I've put a quick list of pros and cons together which can be seen below:





Pros: Largest iPod Capacity-wise long battery life "Genius" feature excellent value for your money well-built doubles as an external hard drive and improvements to Cover Flow.



Cons: Hard Drive (rather than Flash memory) based storage medium; device is cosmetically identical to the 2007 80GB model. (I still don't understand why Apple hasn't colored the Clickwheel black on the silver model to match the iPod Nano.)



Finally I would highly recommend this product which is why it gets five stars from me. I don't like the iPod Nano; it's too small for my hands and the screen is too small for my eyes. While the iPod Touch may have app store access and Wi-Fi I find it to be a really gimmicky device that makes for a poor portable media player (Apple was wise to position it as a handheld game system) and is really an "iPhone without a phone." In contrast the iPod Classic is an excellent portable media player it has an excellent interface and it only costs $249 dollars. To put things in perspective the 2009 160GB iPod Classic costs $70 dollars more than a 16GB iPod Nano and $150 dollars less than a 64GB iPod Touch. All in all I highly recommend this product.More detail ...

Big Bang for the Buck

Over the past two months I have read reviews for the various ipod speaker docks as well as tested several in stores. I'm not sure you'll find many comparable to this one especially in this price range. I agree with the previous review that you will have to adjust the EQ on your ipod to boost the treble otherwise the bass can become overpowering with some types of music. If you're looking for simple design with surprising sound this is the one. I owned a portable speaker dock prior to this and ended up parting with it. Although I can't fold this down and put it in a case to take it wherever I go the sound quality far outweighs the portable ability.More detail ...

great case

great case stylish very nice i bought it its cool. if u buy it get a screen cover b/c it dont have one but its ok. i love it 10/10.

reasonable price!More detail ...

Great Concept; Design Flaw; Bad Customer Service

I bought this product for my boat. The idea was to jack into the AUX of my boat's car stereo have TuneView Dock plug into that and remotely control the iPod out on the deck via the TuneView remote.



Initially it seemed to work fine. I even updated the firmware without a hitch. However near the middle of the boating season for me (May-September) I noticed that the batteries housed in the unit (2 AA) started to rattle around and if I shook it they'd easily lose their connection and the remote would go black.



I opened the battery door and looked a little closer. It appears that the actual housing for the AA batteries is physically larger than it should be and and the battery terminals have the sole purpose of holding the batteries in place - and thus keeping the power source in tact. This is a pretty serious design flaw. What ends up happening is that over time those slim metal terminals bend (its not like they are spring-loaded) and eventually the two AA batteries just jostle around in there and its up to the alignment of the moon and stars whether you end up getting power. I tried bending the terminals forward. This is a hack and did not work in the end...as one of them just broke.



Here's my other issue with the unit: about a month after I had it a black horizontal line showed up on the LCD and would not go away.



Now here's my big issue with the company: Keyspan was purchased by Tripp Lite recently (2008). I bought the unit summer 2007. I *should* have contacted Keyspan immediately when I started to have issues...but I did not and this is my fault.



I contacted Tripp Lite support and I was told that I could ship the unit to them at my expense and if they thought I had dropped it then they would simply return it to me. I explained that I felt the battery terminal issue was a design flaw and I failed to see how that could ever be the result of dropping the unit and they told me that "Past experience has shown us the bent battery terminals is sometimes a tale (sic) tale sign of the unit being dropped."



Given that and the fact that I was 2 months past the 1 yr warranty I did not ship it back. They indicated that if it was not in the 1 yr period they were not liable to do anything anyway. I can understand that and it is my fault for not taking more timely action but still...I paid $170 USD for this thing and now it is pretty much worthless.



One end of the battery terminals is a removable piece that I can probably re-inforce. The other side is soldered to the PCB so I have fewer options there.



I felt compelled to post my experience here so others would be warned. I really feel the customer service at Tripp Lite could have taken the high-road here but they chose not to. Your mileage may vary.More detail ...

control dock for ipod and more

the denon control dock for my ipod exceeds my expectations. it was the only dock that i found with a GUI so i could manage all my pictures and music on my 160 GB ipod through my tv. another great feature of the dock is having an ehternet port allowing access to over 7000 internet radio stations. the remote control is small and has all the functions i could ever want. in my opinion this control dock is one heck of a buy!More detail ...

The New Firmware seems to have ironed out A LOT of the bugs others have talked about!

**Before you read some of the negative reviews please consider this was BEFORE the new firmware update 1.0.3 came out so unfortunately they had unresponsive clickwheels itunes messing up etc. Also some people simply did NOT upgrade their firmware for whatever reason but A LOT of those problems have been fixed with the new firmware so UPGRADE YOUR FIRMWARE AS SOON AS YOU GET YOUR IPOD! It will make a BIG difference!**



Ok on to the review..I just got my 80 gb ipod classic recently with a 3 year extended service plan immediately got itunes version 7.5 and upgraded the firmware immediately to 1.0.3 which seems to have taken care of A LOT of bugs people have been reporting. It must have because I am not getting ANY of the problems other have reported such as laggy clickwheel itunes freezing etc. The clickwheel is VERY responsive only a light touch is needed and scrolling through cover art was very quick! No problems whatsoever with the clickwheel. I also have had no problems copying files to itunes and transferring them to my ipod. The ipod itself is a thing of beauty love the non scratchable surface but the back of the ipod is where you can see all the fingerprints etc so get a good cover for it. The slimness of it is very sleek and heck this ipod just looks cool. I got the ipod up and running in no time after I transferred my music over. Love the search feature as well. There is a lot of features settings and extra's. Heck I even like the clock.



PLEASE NOTE:TURN OFF & DON'T use the EQ (equalizer setting)if you want normal distortion free sound. I was using the EQ and wondered why a lot of my songs had distortion. I thought it was due to the bad sound everyone was talking about until I turned OFF the EQ. Upon turning the EQ off the distortion vanished completely the sound was just fine pretty good in fact. It's a shame that you have to turn off the EQ settings to get good sound. Hopefully Apple will fix this with a firmware update.



I almost got one of the itouch ipods but the very limited space is what kept me from doing so. 80 gb is plenty of space for my music a bit of videos etc. It might not have wifi or a touch screen but it's got tons of space for my music and that's what counts! I love my ipod classic can't find much to be picky about except for the sound when EQ is enabled. It does exactly what it's supposed to is easy to navigate videos look crisp/great on it and most of all it holds a crapload of music. Just remember to upgrade your firmware to the newest version disable EQ and invest in a good pair of headphones. One of the best things about the ipod classic is that because it has so much space I don't have to worry about how many mp3's I put on it. I've never downloaded so many mp3's in my life! I literally put my entire collection of mp3's on it and still have tons of space left. Overall I rate the ipod classic 80 gb (black)...absolutely superb.More detail ...

Nice compact ipod speaker system

My husband bought me this system for my birthday a little while back. I wanted something to play my ipod on that had decent sound quality but I did not want an alarm clock type system which was pretty much the only thing I could find where I live (small town). While the description says that this has an alarm clock thankfully it is not the main function (I'm sure it works fine but I haven't even bothered to set the time as it usually doesn't show on the screen anyway).



First off the SC-HC3 has a very small footprint. It is extremely thin for a system and could easily fit on a bookshelf or mantle which was important to me; I didn't want something large and bulky since I wanted to put it in the dining room and kitchen area of my house.



It has an ipod dock and CD player which both are covered by a sliding panel another plus since I have pets and did not want the fur to get into the ipod docking area when not in use. The ipod can play while the panel is open so you can scroll back and forth manually or you can use the remote control that comes with the system. And the part that covers the ipod is a dark plastic but see-through when the ipod is on so you can see what song is playing. The part of the panel that covers the CD is metalic silver and not see-through. There are system buttons on the top so the front of the stereo looks very clean and not cluttered and they're simple and straightforward to use.



Now I'm not one of those people who can tell you if the music comes across pure or crisp or robust or is highly superior to another system. But I do think that for the most part it does sound good not hollow or too much bass and it does sound clear.



The only complaint that I really have with it has to do with the ipod dock though. It has a pivoting dock connector that pops forward to help you put the ipod in. I have an ipod touch and with it being so thin it is sometimes hard to get it to connect on the first (or tenth) try. There is definitely plenty of room in there for larger ipods which might fit better. And then (this might be just the system I got) every once in a while the connection didn't fit right and when the music plays there is sometimes static during the song. At first I thought it was that the song had been corrupted at some point but the static would happen between songs and when I paused it. And since it sounded like radio static I thought that something was wrong and the radio was playing through the system while I had the ipod on. Then I realized that it was the dock. When I pulled the ipod out and placed it back in the static disappeared. Not a huge deal since I try to remember to make sure it is firmly on and I've only had that problem a few times and it's now been a while and like I said it could just be the one I got. If it continues I'll probably exchange it. UPDATE: It's been a few months and it hasn't happened since.



But overall it is a nice system that doesn't take up much room and is mainly for music not an alarm clock.More detail ...

The New Firmware seems to have ironed out A LOT of the bugs others have talked about!

**Before you read some of the negative reviews please consider this was BEFORE the new firmware update 1.0.3 came out so unfortunately they had unresponsive clickwheels itunes messing up etc. Also some people simply did NOT upgrade their firmware for whatever reason but A LOT of those problems have been fixed with the new firmware so UPGRADE YOUR FIRMWARE AS SOON AS YOU GET YOUR IPOD! It will make a BIG difference!**



Ok on to the review..I just got my 80 gb ipod classic recently with a 3 year extended service plan immediately got itunes version 7.5 and upgraded the firmware immediately to 1.0.3 which seems to have taken care of A LOT of bugs people have been reporting. It must have because I am not getting ANY of the problems other have reported such as laggy clickwheel itunes freezing etc. The clickwheel is VERY responsive only a light touch is needed and scrolling through cover art was very quick! No problems whatsoever with the clickwheel. I also have had no problems copying files to itunes and transferring them to my ipod. The ipod itself is a thing of beauty love the non scratchable surface but the back of the ipod is where you can see all the fingerprints etc so get a good cover for it. The slimness of it is very sleek and heck this ipod just looks cool. I got the ipod up and running in no time after I transferred my music over. Love the search feature as well. There is a lot of features settings and extra's. Heck I even like the clock.



PLEASE NOTE:TURN OFF & DON'T use the EQ (equalizer setting)if you want normal distortion free sound. I was using the EQ and wondered why a lot of my songs had distortion. I thought it was due to the bad sound everyone was talking about until I turned OFF the EQ. Upon turning the EQ off the distortion vanished completely the sound was just fine pretty good in fact. It's a shame that you have to turn off the EQ settings to get good sound. Hopefully Apple will fix this with a firmware update.



I almost got one of the itouch ipods but the very limited space is what kept me from doing so. 80 gb is plenty of space for my music a bit of videos etc. It might not have wifi or a touch screen but it's got tons of space for my music and that's what counts! I love my ipod classic can't find much to be picky about except for the sound when EQ is enabled. It does exactly what it's supposed to is easy to navigate videos look crisp/great on it and most of all it holds a crapload of music. Just remember to upgrade your firmware to the newest version disable EQ and invest in a good pair of headphones. One of the best things about the ipod classic is that because it has so much space I don't have to worry about how many mp3's I put on it. I've never downloaded so many mp3's in my life! I literally put my entire collection of mp3's on it and still have tons of space left. Overall I rate the ipod classic 80 gb (black)...absolutely superb.More detail ...

The New Firmware seems to have ironed out A LOT of the bugs others have talked about!

**Before you read some of the negative reviews please consider this was BEFORE the new firmware update 1.0.3 came out so unfortunately they had unresponsive clickwheels itunes messing up etc. Also some people simply did NOT upgrade their firmware for whatever reason but A LOT of those problems have been fixed with the new firmware so UPGRADE YOUR FIRMWARE AS SOON AS YOU GET YOUR IPOD! It will make a BIG difference!**



Ok on to the review..I just got my 80 gb ipod classic recently with a 3 year extended service plan immediately got itunes version 7.5 and upgraded the firmware immediately to 1.0.3 which seems to have taken care of A LOT of bugs people have been reporting. It must have because I am not getting ANY of the problems other have reported such as laggy clickwheel itunes freezing etc. The clickwheel is VERY responsive only a light touch is needed and scrolling through cover art was very quick! No problems whatsoever with the clickwheel. I also have had no problems copying files to itunes and transferring them to my ipod. The ipod itself is a thing of beauty love the non scratchable surface but the back of the ipod is where you can see all the fingerprints etc so get a good cover for it. The slimness of it is very sleek and heck this ipod just looks cool. I got the ipod up and running in no time after I transferred my music over. Love the search feature as well. There is a lot of features settings and extra's. Heck I even like the clock.



PLEASE NOTE:TURN OFF & DON'T use the EQ (equalizer setting)if you want normal distortion free sound. I was using the EQ and wondered why a lot of my songs had distortion. I thought it was due to the bad sound everyone was talking about until I turned OFF the EQ. Upon turning the EQ off the distortion vanished completely the sound was just fine pretty good in fact. It's a shame that you have to turn off the EQ settings to get good sound. Hopefully Apple will fix this with a firmware update.



I almost got one of the itouch ipods but the very limited space is what kept me from doing so. 80 gb is plenty of space for my music a bit of videos etc. It might not have wifi or a touch screen but it's got tons of space for my music and that's what counts! I love my ipod classic can't find much to be picky about except for the sound when EQ is enabled. It does exactly what it's supposed to is easy to navigate videos look crisp/great on it and most of all it holds a crapload of music. Just remember to upgrade your firmware to the newest version disable EQ and invest in a good pair of headphones. One of the best things about the ipod classic is that because it has so much space I don't have to worry about how many mp3's I put on it. I've never downloaded so many mp3's in my life! I literally put my entire collection of mp3's on it and still have tons of space left. Overall I rate the ipod classic 80 gb (black)...absolutely superb.More detail ...